TENBURY skipper Ed Gough praised his side for their brilliant defending against a powerful Ross outfit in the North Midlands Vase.

Tenbury were on level terms until a try ten minutes from time edged the home side to a hard fought 16-9 win and a place in the next round.

“I’m proud of the lads because Ross are the best side that we’ve played all season,” the Tenbury captain said. “It is difficult when you are against teams from a higher level and they came at us straight from the start. But we defended really well when it would have been easy to get on the bus and have a few beers.”

It was all square at the interval as two Gough penalties cancelled out a penalty and drop goal from the home side.

It was still all square for much of the second half with the sides trading penalties before Ross grabbed the only try of the game ten minutes from the end.

Gough added: “They had a couple of phases down the middle following a driving maul before the spun the ball out wide to score in the corner.

“We thought there was a forward pass leading to the try but to be fair they deserved the win because of the pressure they put us under.”

Tenbury now have a week to recover before hosting Midlands Five West (North) rivals Chaddesley Corbett on December 17 when they will be looking to avenge a narrow 26-20 defeat from back in September.

The other rugby match to beat the freeze on Saturday saw Church Stretton lose 41-17 at home to Bloxwich in Midland Four West (North). This weekend, the Samurai head to Essington.